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View Full Version : Effect of Interleague Play

sox1970
10-04-2006, 05:32 PM
American League teams dominated interleague play 154-98. I was curious to see how AL teams did just against AL competition.

Here's how the AL teams did against just AL competition:
NY 87-57
Oak 85-59
LAA 82-62
Min 80-64
Det 80-64
Tor 78-66
Chi 76-68
Tex 73-71
Cle 70-74
Bos 70-74
Sea 64-80
Bal 61-83
KC 52-92
TB 50-94

AL West went 32 games over .500. Central went -4. East went -28.

I would submit that Minnesota and Detroit are in the playoffs with the help of interleague play, mainly because the AL Central teams played predominately NL Central teams. The AL West played mainly NL West teams, and there is a possibility that the Angels were left out because of interleague play. I wish baseball would look at strength of schedule more closely.

Personally, I hate interleague play and always have. I also hate the unbalanced schedule. If I were commissioner, I would do away with Interleague play and divisions. They would play a balanced schedule in your own league, and send the top four teams to the playoffs. The best of five in the first round would still be in effect, but the #1 seed would get 4 home games as a reward for winning the most during the regular season.

I know this will never happen under Selig, but I think it would be better for baseball from a competitive standpoint.
HotelWhiteSox
10-04-2006, 06:38 PM
Personally, I hate interleague play and always have. I also hate the unbalanced schedule. If I were commissioner, I would do away with Interleague play and divisions. They would play a balanced schedule in your own league, and send the top four teams to the playoffs.


I am not one of those purists types, but hate interleague as well. Some of the World Series matchups in the past 9-10 years have lost some mystique for me thanks to interleague. Even NYers didn't get the feel a Subway series should.

Also completely agree on the schedule/divisions. I have been saying it for years (john rooney too). Get rid of interleague, get rid of divisions, everyone play each other twice at home/away, top 4 records make the playoffs.
SouthSide_HitMen
10-04-2006, 06:46 PM
:threadrules:

I don't mind the divisional play / schedule but I would rather see two divisions of seven or eight teams and no wild card round - make the regular season mean something.

The interleague set up is absolutely ludicrous with teams fighting for a playoff spot with a different schedule. Interleague is a bad gimmick established as an attempt to clean up Selig's 1994 mess. Interleague and steroid home run derby - brought to you Bud Selig. :rolleyes:
DumpJerry
10-04-2006, 06:47 PM
:threadrules:
Agreed. This is why the idea will never become a reality in our lifetimes.
Scottzilla
10-04-2006, 06:51 PM
the subway series gave me a nauseaus feeling. i dont think itd would be any different if there wasnt interleague play.
i didnt like interleauge at first but its grown on me. i do wish the schedule was balanced though.
SouthSide_HitMen
10-04-2006, 06:53 PM
Agreed. This is why the idea will never become a reality in our lifetimes.
:cheers:
HotelWhiteSox
10-04-2006, 07:20 PM
the subway series gave me a nauseaus feeling. i dont think itd would be any different if there wasnt interleague play.
i didnt like interleauge at first but its grown on me. i do wish the schedule was balanced though.

Meant for the NY fans themselves, said it didn't have the same aura it should have, them playing each other had already gone a little stale
the gooch
10-05-2006, 08:38 AM
They need to drastically scale back the number of interleague games per year.
Have each team play 1 'rival' series to satisfy the ratings people (but don't have them all on the same weekend), and then one other series (some will have two extra series due to 16 NL teams). forget the unbalanced BS, because the remaining 156 games means 12 games against every AL opponent.